"Northrop Grumman is dedicated to helping OPM achieve its goals by leveraging information technology for streamlined processes that benefit all federal employees." Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120000 employees...

Defense firms eye benefits from Pentagon budget - Reuters

ATLANTA, May 14 (Reuters) - Defense contractors including Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) backed their full-year forecasts on Thursday, saying they expected to benefit from the Pentagon's 2010 budget even though it could...

Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman is reminding everyone that it's an American company, too. Murray spoke Tuesday before the Machinists union at a conference in DC She quickly referenced the Air Force's controversial decision last year to award a tanker...

Northrop Grumman Employees Run to Support Local Veterans Home - GlobeNewsWire (press release)

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and...

A brand new animation of how NASA's massive next-generation space telescope will open up in space once it achieves orbit, was created by the Image center at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, Calif. The Webb Telescope is roughly 65 feet...

The E-2D Hawkeye built at Northrop Grumman's plant in St. Augustine has reached the 1000 hours of flight testing mark, the company said yesterday. This is means the program is on track for operational evaluation in two years....

Good day ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Northrop Grumman First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. My name is [Frances] and I will be your coordinator for today. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. We will be facilitating a...

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the fourth largest defense contractor in the world, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over 122,000 people worldwide. Its 2007 annual revenue is reported at US$32 billion. Northrop Grumman ranks #76 on the 2008 Fortune 500 list of U.S. industrial companies.

As of 2008, NG has organized its operations into four business units, each of which operates fairly independently. These business units have generally been created through acquisitions.

Northrop Grumman's many products are made by separate business units.

Newport News Shipbuilding manufactures all U.S. aircraft carriers, and is the only company capable of building Nimitz-class supercarriers. It is also one of only two companies capable of producing U.S. nuclear submarines. A separate sector, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, produces amphibious assault ships and many other commercial and military craft, including icebreakers, tankers, and cargo ships. In a partnership with Science Applications International Corporation, Northrop Grumman provides naval engineering and architecture services as well as naval maintenance services.

In January 2008, Northrop Grumman combined its Newport News and Ship Systems sectors into a new business unit named Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

Separate sectors, such as Integrated Systems, produce aircraft for the US and other nations. The B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, the E-8C Joint STARS surveillance aircraft, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, and the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer, are used by the US Air Force. The US Army uses Northrop Grumman's RQ-5 Hunter unmanned air vehicle, which have been in operational use for more than 10 years. The US Navy uses Northrop Grumman-built aerial vehicles such as the BQM-74 Chukar, C-2 Greyhound, E-2 Hawkeye, and the EA-6B Prowler. Northrop Grumman provides major components for aircraft such as F/A-18 Hornet. Many aircraft, such as the F-5, T-38 Talon, and E-2 Hawkeye are used by other nations.

The Space Technology sector builds satellites and space payloads for the US government, including NASA, NOAA and the US Air Force. The sector's Directed Energy unit builds chemical and solid-state lasers. Working with Boeing, the sector provides the chemical laser for the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser system.

Mission Systems sector is engaged in supporting the U.S. ballistic missile program; integrating various command, control and intelligence systems; and providing technical and management services to governmental and military customers.

Northrop Grumman partnered with EADS to use the KC-30 to win U.S. Air Force's KC-X tanker competition. Northrop Grumman/EADS plans to invest approximately US$600 million in a new assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama. The US Air Force chose the Northrop Grumman/EADS's KC-30 in February 2008, but the tanker program was halted by Defense Department in September 2008.

Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems creates military sensors and related products, including C4I radar systems for air defense, Airspace Management radar systems such as AMASS, and battlefield surveillance systems like the Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL). Tactical aircraft sensors produced by Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems include the AN/APG-68 radar and the AN/APG-80 advanced agile beam fire control radar for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the revolutionary AN/APG-77 Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar for the F-22 Raptor, and the world's most advanced multi-function AESA radar, the AN/APG-81, and the AN/AAS-37 electro-optical Distributed Aperture System for the F-35 Lightning II, and the highly reliable APQ-164 passive Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar for the B-1 Lancer. Electronic Systems also produces and maintains the AWACS aerial surveillance systems for the U.S., the United Kingdom, NATO, Japan, and other customers. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the development and integration of the Air Force's $2-billion Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program. Many other smaller products are made by Northrop Grumman, such as night vision goggles and secure communications equipment.

Remotec, a subsidiary, is the foremost manufacturer of remote control vehicles for explosive ordnance disposal and hazardous material handling. A UK-based subsidiary, Park Air Systems, makes navigation, traffic control, and communications equipment for international customers. They also have worked closely with Antenna Associates, Inc., a leading manufacturer of IFF(Identification Friend or Foe)/SSR(Secondary Surveillance Radar) Antennas located in Massachusetts.

In addition to providing the products created by Northrop Grumman, the company also provides many military and non-military services, usually to governments. It is among the largest suppliers of IT services to the U.S. federal government, for instance. And Vinnell, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary within the Technical Services sector, provides training and communications services for the military. For example Vinnell landed a $48 million contract to train the Iraqi Army in 2003.

Many smaller nations and individual states in the U.S. have contracted Northrop Grumman for various large-scale projects. In 2005, for instance, the company won a $2 billion contract with Virginia to overhaul most of the state's IT operations. And later that year, Great Britain paid for a $1.2 billion contract with the company to provide maintenance of many aspects of the country's defensive radar.

Northrop Grumman also performs various foreign functions in the War on Drugs. The company sends planes to spray herbicides on suspected cocaine fields in Colombia and opium poppy fields in Afghanistan.

Originally formed in California in 1939, Northrop Corporation was reincorporated in Delaware in 1985. In 1994, Northrop Aircraft merged with Grumman Aerospace to create the company Northrop Grumman. Both companies were previously established in the airplane manufacturing industry, and Grumman was famous for building the Apollo Lunar Module. The new company acquired Westinghouse Electronic Systems in 1996, a major manufacturer of radar systems. Logicon, a defense computer contractor, was added in 1997. Previously, Logicon had acquired Geodynamics Corporation in March 1996 and Syscon Corporation in February 1995.

A merger between Northrop Grumman and competitor Lockheed Martin was not approved by the U.S. government in 1998, slowing the consolidation of the defense industry. But in 1999, the company acquired Teledyne Ryan, which developed surveillance systems and unmanned aircraft. It also acquired California Microwave, Inc., and Data Procurement Corporation, in the same year. Other entities acquired included Xetron Corporation (1996), Inter-National Research Institute Inc. (1998), Federal Data Corporation (2000), Navia Aviation As (2000), Comptek Research, Inc. (2000), and Sterling Software, Inc. (2000).

In 2001 the company acquired Litton Industries, a shipbuilder and provider of defense electronics systems to the U.S. Navy. During the acquisition process, a new Delaware holding company, NNG, Inc., was formed. It merged with Northrop Grumman through a one-for-one common shares exchange in April 2001. Both Northrop Grumman and Litton became subsidiaries of the new holding company. The original Northrop Grumman Corporation then changed its name to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation; the holding company, NNG, Inc., changed its name to Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Later that year, Newport News Shipbuilding (one of only two producers of nuclear submarines) was added to the company. And in 2002, Northrop Grumman acquired TRW, which became the Space Technology sector based in Redondo Beach, CA, and the Mission Systems sector based in Reston, VA, with sole interest in their space systems and laser systems manufacturing. The Aeronautical division was sold to Goodrich, and the automotive divisions were spun off and retained the TRW name.

There have been many other smaller acquisitions throughout this period. On July 20, 2007, Northrop Grumman became the sole owner of Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites.

Northrop Grumman and Boeing have also recently collaborated on a design concept for NASA's upcoming Orion spacecraft (previously the Crew Exploration Vehicle), but that contract went to rival Lockheed Martin on August 31, 2006. Northrop Grumman announced formation of a new business unit (sector), effective January 1, 2006 called Technical Services.

Three employees of Northrop Grumman (Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell) were freed in July of 2008 after five years of captivity in Colombia during Operation Jaque. Tom Janis, also a former Northrop employee, was killed by the FARC shortly after their plane crashed in the Colombian jungle in 2003.

Kent Kresa was the CEO of the company until he was required to retire in 2003 due to age restrictions. At this point, Ronald Sugar, formerly the chief operating officer, took over as CEO. He also serves as the company chairman.

Northrop Grumman was named Forbes's Company of the Year in 2002. Forbes's announcement credited the company with "master the art of innovation." Northrop Grumman no longer appears on their list of America's 400 Best Big Companies, however. Northrop Grumman is credited with sponsoring educational programs and donating thousands of dollars to various charities. Many members of the U.S. government have attended company events and spoken highly of the company and its contributions. In December 2007, Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded the prestigious Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, the only Presidential award recognizing companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations.

Based on year 2002 data, researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts identified Northrop Grumman as the 17th-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States; according to their study, Northrop Grumman facilities released more than 520,000 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in that year. The corporation has also been linked to 52 superfund toxic waste sites. In 2003, the company was among 84 parties with which the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the state of New York reached an estimated US$ 15 million settlement for the rehabilitation of the Mattiace Petrochemical Company Superfund site in Glen Cove, Long Island; in the same year, Northrop Grumman agreed to pay $33,214 after EPA inspectors found hazardous waste violations at the Capistrano test site.

From 1990-2002, Northrop Grumman contributed $8.5 million to federal campaigns. According to PAC summary data compiled by Source Watch, the company gave US$1,011,260 to federal candidates in 2005-2006 election cycle, compared to $10,612,837 given by all defense contractors in the same cycle.. This donation amount was only behind that of General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin in the defense industry. The majority of the contributions — 63% — went to Republicans. Former Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems chief James G. Roche served for two years as Secretary of the Air Force for George W. Bush. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Roche would eventually be nominated to head the Army, but would be forced to withdraw his nomination among accusations of mismanaging a contract with Boeing and of failing to properly handle the Air Force sexual assault scandals of 2003. According to Corp Watch, "at least seven former officials, consultants, or shareholders of Northrop Grumman" have held posts "in the Bush administration...including Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Vice-Presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby, Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim, and Sean O’Keefe, director of NASA." Wolfowitz and Libby have both since left the government amid scandals.

Northrop Grumman has had to deal with multiple scandals during its history. The company was sued in 1999 for allegedly knowingly giving the Navy defective aircraft. This suit seeks $210 million in damages and is ongoing. Then in 2003, the company was sued for allegedly overcharging the U.S. government for space projects in the 1990s. Northrop Grumman paid $111.2 million to settle that suit out of court.

Litton Industries

Named after inventor Charles Litton, Sr., Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2001.

Litton started in 1953 as an electronics company building navigation, communications and electronic warfare equipment. They diversified and became a much bigger business, with major shipyards, etc., and even manufacturing microwave ovens.

In the early 1990s, Litton Industries split into separate military and commercial companies. The US$2 billion commercial business, which included Litton's oilfield services, business and automated assembly line operations, was named Western Atlas, Inc.

Their famous logo, used from the 1960s to the 90s was a stylized "li", followed by the division's name in an all caps sans-serif font. For much of the 1990s, "li SWEDA" was a common sight on cash registers, and "li COLE" can still be found on many filing cabinets.

Bill Studeman

William Oliver Studeman (born January 16, 1940) is a retired Admiral of the United States Navy and former Deputy Director of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency, with two extended periods as Acting Director of Central Intelligence. As Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, he served in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations under Directors of Central Intelligence Robert Gates, R. James Woolsey, Jr. and John M. Deutch. Admiral Studeman retired from the Navy in 1995 after almost 35 years of service. Between 1988 and 1992 he was director of the National Security Agency; he was the Director of Naval Intelligence, September 1985 - July 1988.

On 6 February 2004, Studeman was appointed to the Iraq Intelligence Commission, an independent panel tasked with investigating U.S. intelligence surrounding the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Admiral Studeman retired in 2005 from Northrop Grumman Corporation as Vice President & Deputy General Manager of Mission Systems. In this position, he focused on strategies, programs, business development, marketing related to Intelligence and Information Warfare, as well as corporate cross-sector integration, and on managing technology partnerships and concepts related to NetCentricity ISR,IO/IW and advanced command environments. He served in this position for approximately 9 years.

Admiral Studeman has served on corporate boards, and government, university and corporate advisory boards. He was recently a Commissioner on the Presidential Commission on WMD, and is currently serving on National Advisory Board on Bio-Security and the Public Interest Declassification Board. He is also a member of the Defense Science Board as well as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Advisory Board, Defense Intelligence Agency Joint Military Intelligence College, National Reconnaissance Office, national labs and other advisory boards. He is Chairman of the Board of the Naval Intelligence Foundations, and is a member of the Board of the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation.

In 1962, he received his bachelor degree in history from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Studeman holds a master's degree in public and international affairs from George Washington University. While in the Navy, he also was a distinguished graduate of the Naval War College and National War College, as well as the recipient of an honorary doctorate in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College. He will receive a second honorary doctorate degree this fall from the University of the South.

Admiral Studeman is the recipient of numerous service commendations and citations, including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars. In 2007 Studeman was awarded the William Oliver Baker Award by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. He also has received service medals from the Governments of France, Brazil, and South Korea.

ALR-67 Radar Warning Receiver

The AN/ALR-67 Radar Warning Receiver is designed to warn an aircraft's crew of potentially hostile radar activity. It is an airborne threat warning and countermeasures control system built to be successor to the United States Navy's AN/ALR-45. Northrop Grumman Corporation's Electronic Systems sector (Rolling Meadows, Illinois) was the main contractor for the AN/ALR-67(V) and (V)2. Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems (Goleta, California) was the main contractor for the AN/ALR-67(V)3.

The AN/ALR-67 countermeasures warning and control system is the standard threat warning system for tactical aircraft and was specifically designed for the A-6E/SWIP, AV-8B, F-14B, F-14D and F/A-18. The system detects, identifies and displays radars and radar-guided weapon systems in the C to J frequency range (about 0.5 to 20 GHz). The system also coordinates its operation with onboard fire-control radars, datalinks, jammers, missile detection systems and anti-radiation missiles.

The AN/ALR-67(V)2 in turn has been given a significant enhancement in capability, through Engineering Change Procedure ECP-510 to the AN/ALR-67E(V)2 standard. The AN/ALR-67E(V)2 provides additional enhancements including a 10-fold improvement in detection ranges when in the presence of a wingman's radar signals; it also incorporates Inertial guidance system (INS) stabilisation for accurate display in high g manoeuvres and during high roll maneuvers.

The designation ALR-67B(V)2 is in connection with the ALR-67 systems fitted to Spain's EF-18 and Canadian's CF-18 aircraft.

Over 1,600 AN/ALR-67(V) and AN/ALR-67(V)2 systems have been sold. The AN/ALR-67(V) has been supplied to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps and the air forces of Australia, Canada, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain and Switzerland.

The AN/ALR-67(V)3 is commonly referred to as the Advanced Special Receiver (ASR) set. The receiver electronics unit has been upgraded to a fully channelized digital architecture with dual 32-bit processors, yet with an overall reduction in system size and weight. The Azimuth Display Indicator (ADI) is a 3 in (76.2 mm) diameter CRT or LCD cockpit display, carried over from the AN/ALR-67(V)2, used to show intercepted threats. The AN/ALR-67(V)3 also forms part of the electronic countermeasures programme, including an interface to the ALE-50 Towed Decoy System.

In August 1999, Raytheon was awarded an initial contract for full-rate production of the AN/ALR-67(V)3 for the U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, totalling 34 complete installations, together with 40 spare quadrant receivers and five countermeasures receivers. These were delivered during 2001/02. Further production contracts followed, with the latest in April 2005, where Raytheon received its seventh production contract for 42 systems totalling US$ 44 million. This contract brought total orders to 284 receivers plus spares.

It has been reported (September 13, 2006) that the Australian Defence minister has accepted a recommendation to stop development of the ALR-2002 for the F/A-18, the RAAF will most likely install the ALR-67V(3) instead.

On August 3, 2007, Deagel.com reported that the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Canada of AN/ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receivers as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $209 million. This notice of a potential sale is required by law; it does not mean that the sale has been concluded.

A variant of this system, designated AN/ALR-67(V)4, was included in a proposed upgrade for the F-14A but was never implemented due to the retirement of those aircraft in the United States.

Lunar Lander Challenge

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is a competition funded by NASA's Centennial Challenges program. The competition offers a series of prizes for teams that launch a vertical takeoff/vertical landing (VTVL) rocket that achieves the total delta-v needed for a vehicle to move between the surface of the Moon and its orbit. The multi-level competition is conducted by the X PRIZE Foundation, with sponsorship from the Northrop Grumman Corporation who run the on-going competition. The prize purses are paid by NASA. It has been held annually at the X PRIZE Cup, making its debut at the 2006 Wirefly X PRIZE Cup in October, 2006.

The competition is divided into two levels. Both levels require teams to demonstrate control of their vehicle by flying to an altitude of more than 50 meters (160 ft), flying laterally for 100 m (330 ft), and landing on a pad. For level 1, this pad is a simple 10 m (33 ft) diameter circle; for level 2, it is a simulated lunar surface, complete with craters and boulders. After completing this first flight, the vehicle can then be refueled, and must then fly a second leg back to the original starting point. Each flight must meet a required minimum flight time of 90 seconds for level 1 and 180 seconds for level 2. For each level, the two flights along with any necessary preparation must be accomplished within a short 150-minute time period. Each Level offers a first- and second-place prize. Level 1 features a first place prize purse of $350,000 and a $150,000 purse for second place. The more difficult level 2 offers a first place prize of $1 million and a $500,000 second place prize.

2006 was the first year of the competition. It was announced on May 5, 2006, giving teams only a few months to prepare for the late-October competition. Although four teams officially registered for the competition, only one was able to receive the required permit from the FAA before the event. Armadillo Aerospace arrived at the 2006 event with two matching vehicles, named Pixel and Texel. In the end, Armadillo made three attempts to win the prize, each one using Pixel. In all three cases, difficult landings left them short of the mission requirements—on two occasions, rough landings caused damage to the vehicle; on a third, the vehicle failed to land completely on the target pad. Team Armadillo left without any prize money, but still had made history by performing the first successful flight of a private vehicle of this class—as well as the first flight under the FAA's new Experimental Permit.

The 2008 Lunar Lander Challenge took place October 24–25 at the Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico. Two teams competed. Because the X PRIZE Cup was canceled for 2008, the Lunar Lander Challenge was held separately, and was open only to members of the press. It was, however, broadcast live by the official event webcast, SpaceVidcast.

The only teams that flew are Armadillo Aerospace and TrueZer0. Both received waivers from the FAA to fly experimental rockets.

TrueZer0 attempted level 1, achieved hover, then lost roll control and was aborted and crashed.

Armadillo had an unsuccessful first attempt at level 1, and landed early due to inadequate thrust. On their second attempt they completed the first leg, but the second leg was cut short by the FAA closing the flight window. The second leg was held in the afternoon, and they were able to take the Level 1 top prize of $350,000.

Armadillo made an attempt at the level 2 prize on October 25, but had a fuel valve failure, burned through the engine nozzle, and rolled the vehicle at takeoff. They decided not to make another attempt.

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News (NGSB-NN), formerly called Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN) or Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (NNS&DD or simply NNS), was the largest privately owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001. NGSB-NN is one of two shipyards that produce and service all types of nuclear powered submarines (the other is the Electric Boat Corporation), and at present is the only shipyard that can build Ford-class supercarriers. NGSB-NN is also home to the largest crane in the western hemisphere. NGSB-NN is located in Newport News, Virginia, and often participates in projects with the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, also located adjacent to Hampton Roads.

The shipyard is a major employer not only for the lower Virginia Peninsula, but also portions of Hampton Roads south of the James River and the harbor, portions of the Middle Peninsula region, and even some northeastern counties of North Carolina.

Industrialist Collis P. Huntington (1821 – 1900) provided crucial funding to complete the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) from Richmond, Virginia to the Ohio River in the early 1870s. Although originally built for general commerce, this C&O rail link to the midwest was soon also being used to transport bituminous coal from the previously isolated coalfields, adjacent to the New River and the Kanawha River in West Virginia. In 1881, the Peninsula Extension of the C&O was built from Richmond down the Virginia Peninsula to reach a new coal pier on Hampton Roads in Warwick County near the small unincorporated community of Newport News Point. However, building the railroad and coal pier was only the first part of Huntington's dreams for Newport News. In 1886, he built a shipyard to repair ships servicing this transportation hub. In 1891, Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company delivered its first ship, a tugboat named Dorothy. By 1897, NNS had built three warships for the U.S. Navy: Nashville, Wilmington, and Helena.

When Collis died in 1900, his nephew Henry E. Huntington inherited much of his uncle's fortune. He also married Collis' widow Arabella Huntington, and assumed Collis's leadership role with Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Under Henry Huntington's leadership, growth continued.

In 1906, the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought launched a great naval race worldwide. Between 1907 and 1923, Newport News built six of the U.S. Navy's total of 22 dreadnoughts -- Delaware, Texas, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Maryland, and West Virginia -- and all but the first would still be in active service in World War II.

In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet on its round-the-world voyage. Seven of its 16 battleships were built by NNS. In 1914, NNS built the SS Medina for the Mallory Steamship Company; as the MV Doulos she is now the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship.

In the early years, leaders of the Newport News community and those of the shipyard were virtually interchangeable. Shipyard president Walter A. Post served from March 9, 1911 to Feb. 12, 1912, when he died. Earlier, he had come to the area as one of the builders of the C&O Railway's terminals, and had served as the first mayor of Newport News after it became an independent city in 1896. It was on March 14, 1914 that Albert L. Hopkins, a young New Yorker trained in engineering, succeeded Post as President of the company. While traveling to England on shipyard business, aboard the SS Lusitania, his tenure and his life ended prematurely when that ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat off Queenstown on the Irish coast. 127 other Americans also lost their lives. His assistant Fred Gauntlett, was also on board, but was able to swim to safety. Homer Lenoir Ferguson was a manager when Hopkins died, and assumed the presidency the following July. He saw the company through both world wars, became a noted community leader, and was a co-founder of the Mariners' Museum with Archer Huntington. He served until July 31, 1946, after the second World War had ended on both the European and Pacific fronts.

Just northwest of the shipyard, Hilton Village, one of the first planned communities in the country, was built by the federal government to house shipyard workers in 1918. The planners met with the wives of shipyard workers. Based on their input 14 house plans were designed for the projected 500 English-village-style homes. After the war, in 1922, Henry Huntington acquired it from the government, and helped facilitate the sale of the homes to shipyard employees and other local residents. Three streets there were named after Post, Hopkins, and Ferguson.

The Lusitania incident was among the events that brought the United States into World War I. Between 1918 and 1920, NNS delivered 25 destroyers, and after the war, NNS began building aircraft carriers. Ranger was delivered in 1934, and NNS went on to build Yorktown and Enterprise.

By 1940, the Navy had ordered seven more aircraft carriers and four cruisers. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding Program, and swiftly filled requests for "Liberty ships" that were needed during the war. It founded North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, an emergency yard on the banks of the Cape Fear River and launched its first Liberty ship before the end of 1941, building 243 ships in all, including 186 Libertys. For its contributions during the war, the Navy awarded the company its "E" pennant for excellence in ship construction.

In the post-war years, NNS built the famous passenger liner SS United States, which set a transatlantic speed record that still stands today. In 1954, NNS, together with Westinghouse and the Navy, developed and built a prototype nuclear reactor for a carrier propulsion system. NNS designed the Enterprise in 1960. In 1959 NNS launched its first nuclear-powered submarine, Shark as well as the ballistic missile submarine Robert E. Lee.

In the 1970s, NNS launched two of the largest tankers ever built in the western hemisphere and also constructed three liquefied natural gas carriers -- at over 390,000 deadweight tons, the largest ever built in the United States. In the 1980s, NNS produced a variety of Navy products, including Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers and Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarines.

In 1968, Newport News merged with Tenneco Corporation. In 1996, Tenneco initiated a spinoff of Newport News into an independent company (Newport News Shipbuilding).

On 7 November 2001, Northrop Grumman entered an agreement to purchase Newport News Shipbuilding for a total of $2.6 billion. This acquisition created a $4 billion shipyard called Northrop Grumman Newport News.

On 28 January 2008, Northrop Grumman Corporation realigned its two shipbuilding sectors, Northrop Grumman Newport News and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, into a single sector called Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

ESL Incorporated

ESL Incorporated, or Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory, was a subsidiary of TRW, a high technology firm in the United States that was engaged in software design, systems analysis and hardware development for the strategic reconnaissance marketplace. Founded in January, 1964 in Palo Alto, California, the company was initially entirely privately capitalized by its employees. One of the company founders and original chief executive was William J. Perry, who eventually became United States Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton. ESL was a leader in developing strategic signal processing systems and a prominent supplier of tactical reconnaissance and direction-finding systems to the U. S. military. These systems provided integrated real-time intelligence.

Most of TRW - including ESL - was acquired by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in December 2002.

ESL primarily supplied domestic intelligence agencies, NASA and the U.S. military, but had certain direct relations with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and also provided some services for a variety of state agencies. Principal historic areas of competence are: (a) reconnaissance systems; (b) data communications systems (including advanced sonar and laser light scattering); (c) phased array radar surveillance systems; (d) advanced data processing systems; and (e) environmental systems. The company employed a large technical staff, most of them holding advanced academic degrees.

In February, 1988 its headquarters became the scene of a mass murder when former employee Richard Farley fatally shot seven people and wounded four others in the culmination of his two-year romantic obsession with a colleague, who was among the injured. Bill Lee, who worked at the company and served as a member of the crisis response team recalls the tragedy in detail in his first book, Chinese Playground: A Memoir . The incident was influential in the State of California becoming the first to enact anti-stalking legislation.

The company was founded from a small incubator space on Fabian Way in Palo Alto, California, where it remained until about 85 employees in size. The first major expansion took place about 1969, when a staged facility complex in Sunnyvale, California on Java Drive was initiated. within Moffett Industrial Park, which yielded a decade later about 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) of space for laboratories and research/development activity. The early line management team included Perry as chief executive; Robert Fossum, director of systems analysis; Donald Wolfe, director of hardware; Michael Hogan, director of environmental systems and Paul Scheibe, director of technology. By 1988 there were 9 buildings housing the over 3000 employees.

For optical systems ESL developed one of the first digital image processing capabilities for aerial photography (both satellite and aircraft platforms). Various radio frequencies are also addressed in order to create a comprehensive capability in signal processing for a variety of listening devices. Tools developed emphasize the real time interaction of interpreters in order to facilitate rapid use of data intercepted. A primary mission of reconnaissance work was support of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the unique developments of ESL in this field are: new application of digital signal processing and an early method of recording high speed digital data on analog media.

This work centers on development of remotely-controlled real time systems utilized in a variety of strategic surveillance activities. Consequently ESL has always been a pioneer in the fields of antenna design throughout a wide part of the electromagnetic spectrum, including advances in phased array technology. Airborne derivatives of this technology have also been applied to tactical situations, involving tracking of multiple high velocity objects. After successes in specific applications for the government market, ESL began producing some of these receiving systems as commercially available catalog items in the late 1970s.

Since the 1970s ESL has made state of the art advances in coherent signal processing in a high electronic noise environment. These innovations led to near real-time signal processing even as early as 1972. Optical systems analysis has been conducted for four decades, starting in the 1960s with satellite imagery and laser light scattering from atmospheric particles. Acoustical analysis was also conducted in early years related to understanding how porpoises communicate in the wild. In many cases these systems analyses led to hardward implementation programs, typically beginning with one-of-a-kind prototypes for field testing. Multi-year planning programs for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency including consulting work on implementation of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, (SALT) and the Mutual Balanced Force Reduction with the previous Soviet Union.

Data communication systems were originally developed to support a variety of the firm’s strategic reconnaissance systems activity. It was natural to seek to provide links from remote unattended listening stations to central station command and control functions. These data systems were often developed to withstand severe environmental and reliability tests; some systems include multiple airborne and ground-based receivers. One of the early data communications systems developed was a multi-channel ultra high frequency digital data link, whose innovation was its abiltiy to be conveyed over a single standard military voice channel. In 1972 the company developed one of the first commercial grade telephone to computer data modem devices.

The company developed the first software for interpreting renal isograms in the diagnosis of Renovascular hypertension, working in conjunction with physicians practicing in the kidney disease diagnostics field. For NASA, image processing research has been used to interpret satellite photos, including some of the earliest work of this type. The environmental systems division has developed specialized mathematical models for air quality, environmental noise and water pollution topics, gaining note for developing early line source models used in certain environmental litigation.

The company underwent a successful public offering of its common stock underwitten by Hambrecht and Quist in the mid 1970s with shares thereafter trading on the NASDAQ exchange. In 1978 a merger was consummated with TRW Inc. to merge ESL with TRW, the latter being a large defense contractor in the USA. In 2001, TRW sold the real estate of the ESL campus in Sunnyvale, CA. Approximately half of the operation moved to San Jose, California, and the other half set up offices at the former McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, California.

In December 2002, TRW, including ESL, was acquired by Northrop Grumman Corporation. Northrop Grumman has one of the largest intelligence analysis capabilities in the U. S. and is a leader in developing computer architectures and multisource data integration tools. Core competencies of the combined ESL, TRW and Northrop Grumman units include systems integration, high-performance signal processing algorithms, high-speed architectures, remotely controlled modular payloads and antenna systems. ESL survives essentially intact in their San Jose facility and the former McClellan Air Force Base facility in Sacramento.